Pleasanton Weekly

Homeless man identified by coroner's office

Discovered dead in sleeping bag in early December

The Alameda County Coroner's Office has released the name of a man whose body was discovered last month in a sleeping bag at an encampment beneath Interstate 580 near the Hopyard Road exit.

Randolph Gonzales, 50, was found dead midday on Dec. 5 by a bicyclist on Zone 7 property known as the Alamo Canal, not far from Johnson Drive. The coroner's office confirmed Gonzales died of natural causes, specifically heart failure.

The man was identified days after he was found but the coroner's office was legally prohibited from releasing his name until family members were contacted.

Gonzales was reportedly a friendly man who joked with local bicyclists passing through his camp; the bicyclist who found the body told police he had seen the same person, alive, about a week earlier.

The man was camping beneath the busy I-580 overpass not far from the Pleasanton Hilton Hotel and ClubSport, across Johnson Drive. A sleeping bag, blankets, coolers, bicycle, guitar, clothing and camping gear were found scattered though the area, directly below the highway.

Gonzales is the second homeless person found dead in Pleasanton in 2011. In February, the body of a man was found down a railroad easement near Case and Valley avenues.

An autopsy in that case ruled there was no foul play. As in the current case, the identity was withheld because the family had not been notified. In that case, police conjectured the man may have been walking toward an encampment somewhere in the area while returning from Raley's on Sunol Boulevard.